***Where Books Fall Open

A Reader's Anthology of Wit and Wisdom

paintings by Bascove

This book is a selection of poems and essays about the delights of
reading, accompanied by beautiful paintings of people enjoying
books. I read this book little by little, with a selection or two
at a time. It brings smiles and meditations about how good it is
to be a reader.

Here’s a nice bit from Carol Weston: “What a privilege to know
that if I have an extra hour, anywhere, anytime, I can spend it with
Edith Wharton or Oscar Wilde. What a comfort that if I want to
be with Anna Karenina or Harry Potter, there they are, ready and
waiting.”

Another remark in the spirit of thankfulness by Elizabeth
Hardwick: “It is fortunate to have had all my life this passion
for studying and enjoying literature and for trying to add a bit to it
as interestingly
as I can. This passion has given me much joy, it has given me
friends who care for the same things, it has given me employment,
escape from boredom, everything. The greatest gift is the passion
for reading.
It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you
knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a
moral illumination.”